I received the sad news that Mr. Masakatsu Obata passed away on December 12th, 2019, three days prior to his 102nd birthday. Mr. Obata was the first hibakusha, atomic bomb survivor, I ever met.
During our meeting I felt overwhelmed whilest he described his experiences on August 9th, 1945 and the days after. I had never heard such vivid descriptions of what had happened. Because it was my first conversation, I was overwhelmed. I don’t remember much and always have to look back at my notes when speaking about Mr. Obata’s testimony.
I’ve returned to Nagasaki many times since September 2008 but that was the only time we met.
When I took this portrait he was already 90 years old. I remember that he had as much energy as I did. We walked across to the park near the hypocenter and took the first portrait of what became the From Above project that has defined my career and who I am. From Above was published as a book and has so far been exhibited on three continents.
I’m grateful for Mr. Obata allowing me to begin my journey learning about the hibakusha and the horrors of nuclear war.
“After the war I saw the photo of the mushroom cloud, but I thought they should have shown photos of the people underneath. It’s a bloody shame!” -Ron Schlote
A few weeks ago I was informed that Mr. Ron Scholte passed away last autumn at the age of 94.
Ron Scholte was serving in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) when he was taken as a prison of war by the Japanese when they invaded Java in 1942 and later sent to Fukuoka Camp 14 in Nagasaki. He was used as a forced laborer until the end of the war in August 1945. He was one of 120 Dutch POWs to survive the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
I had the privilege of photographing Mr. Scholte in January 2015. I had learned about his story and it took me a long time to find him. Even on the day of our meeting my train connections to the southern Netherlands were delayed because of a small snowstorm in Amsterdam. I arrived at his home as the sunset, hours late, and snapped this photograph when I caught him glimpsing out a window as I walked to the front door.
I didn’t think this would be the portrait I would use in the project. But as time passed and I thought about his story it made sense. When I look at this photograph, he is beginning to fade away in the reflection of the landscape. A few years prior, he had begun writing down his experiences in Nagasaki because he was diagnosed with dementia. The story was too important to be lost in his fading mind so I’m grateful he had documented his experiences in great detail. That day he was able to speak for hours about what he had seen in Nagasaki.
He was living alone but shortly after my visit was moved to an elderly home as his mind rapidly deteriorated. He lived a little less than four years after we met.
Not many people know that there were Dutch POW’s affected by the atomic bomb. Most of them died from various forms of cancer within ten years of 1945. The majority of Dutch people I speak to about Mr. Schlote and Mr. Buchel, the other Dutch POW I photographed, are shocked to learn about their stories.
..Where I realized how to love people..By myself..by the river…6PM sunset 1 block from hypocenter.. ..Where I realized why I traveled across the world to meet these people..Where I found emotion in Nagasaki..
..The first time I saw the reflection in the small stream running next to the epicenter, this was when the devastation hit me. It’s one of the most moving photos I took. Peaceful but remorseful.
..I first saw the reflection of the archway in the shallow water. As August 9th, 1945 grew older the pile of bodies multiplied in the canal. Eventually making a dam of corpses which stopped the running water. The corpses piled almost to the top of the 20 foot archway.
Along with the reflection of the archway, I can see the reflection of innocent that didn’t need to die. Why did this happen? It didn’t need to. This image has more of an effect on me than the epicenter. How can a scene so peaceful be a grave 64 years ago?
..Where I realized what happened. Where I realized war is fucking shit..that kills the innocent..
..Nagasaki September 7th,2008.. One hour after train ride, little before sunset. First time at the hypocenter
..I thought the hypocenter would have drawn more of a crowd. Only 2 ladies and a father playing with his son wandering across the spot where one of the world’s greatest atrocities took place. The grass was very thin and spotted yellow from a summer long soaking of intense sunshine. Looked like any park in a forgotten neighborhood.
..September 8th, 2007 Second time at the epicenter, Nagasaki.. Walked to the epicenter at 6:30AM. A Japanese man walking across the park. Stops and bows in front of the monument. A deep bow. A sign of great respect. Continues to his destination. I wonder if this is how he starts most of his days?
..July 2019.. ..Hiroshima..
I’m honored to have my photograph of Setsuko Thurlow on the cover of her autobiography.
Mrs. Thurlow is an hibakusha, atomic bomb survivor, from Hiroshima.
She rececently had the honor of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize when it was awarded to ICAN for their work on the nuclear weapons ban. Mrs. Thurlow has dedicated her life to the abolition of nuclear weapons.
“In 2014 I was officially recognized as an hibakusha by the Japanese government. It’s gratifying that the Japanese government recognized that I was there when the atomic bomb was detonated because the Dutch government didn’t care about any of the Dutch who were in Nagasaki. Soon after I visited Nagasaki together with my three daughters. I wanted to show them some of the places I had been during the war to let them know what kind of impact the experience had on my life. But I didn’t tell them the most severe details. I haven’t told my story to many people because it is so intense.” -Willy Buchel van Steenbergen
I received the sad news that atomic bomb survivor Willy Buchel van Steenbergen passed away on July 10th. He was 99 years old. I photographed him at his home in Waalre, Netherlands. Mr. Buchel was one of two former Dutch POW’s who experienced the atomic bomb in Nagasaki who I photographed during 2015.
Mr. Buchel was serving in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) when he was taken as a prison of war by the Japanese when they invaded Java in 1942 (at the time Java was a part of the Dutch East Indies) and later sent to Fukuoka Camp 14 in Nagasaki. He was used as a forced laborer until the end of the war in August 1945. He was one of 120 Dutch POW’s to survive the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
There were two camps holding Dutch POW’s in Nagasaki. Fukuoka Camp 14 was located near the Nagasaki Station. It was close to the hypocenter and heavily damaged. Most of the POW’s who survived the bombing lived less than ten years after. Most likely perishing from the effects of radiation exposure.
Mr. Buchel’s
experiences were very unique because he not only survived the atomic
bomb but also because of his heritage. After WWII his story became more
complicated when the Dutch lost the colonial war in what is now
Indonesia.
“All of my family in the Dutch East Indies survived
the Japanese Occupation during the war.
My father contracted tuberculous and didn’t have to go to an internment
camp because the Japanese quarantined the sick.
A mark was drawn on the house to signal someone was ill. My mother, who considered herself Dutch,
didn’t have to go to the camps either because the she was half Indonesian. The Japanese considered her Indonesian.
I came to the Netherlands in 1950. There was a colonial war between the Netherlands and the native Indonesians in the Dutch East Indies immediately after WWII. When the Dutch lost its colony I couldn’t remain in the place where I was born and grew up. I lost my country and fatherland. Many who came here had the same feeling. After many years I went to visit the area where I was born – it was very different.”
I had heard about former Dutch POW’s who experienced the atomic bomb. It took me years to find Mr. Buchel. When my contact got permission from him to meet, my trip had to be delayed days before my departure because he was hospitalized with ammonia. Then during a snowy morning in January 2015 I finally met him. That morning I sat in the Amsterdam train station waiting hours for my delayed train thinking that it might not happen. But the winter sun burst through and melted the snow on the tracks.
In the years after, I’ve spoken to many Dutch people who have no idea there were Dutch atomic bomb survivors. All of them were surprised when I told them about Mr. Buchel. There was a book written in Dutch about Fukuoka Camp 14 but it went out of print shortly after it was published either in the 1960’s or 1970’s.
I was fortunate to have met Mr. Buchel. He wrote me letters which usually arrived at my home around the holidays. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to call him my friend. I’ve posted a portrait of him at his home and another of him holding my Hasselblad camera.
Earlier this week I received the sad news that atomic bomb survivor Mrs. Kazu Sueishi passed away almost two years ago. I had photographed her in 2010 when she visited New York City high school and university students. My time with Mrs. Sueishi was short but her message of peace was everlasting.
Mrs. Sueishi’s father was from Hiroshima Prefecture and became a merchant in California. Kazu was born in the Pasadena but her family moved back to Japan in the 1920’s when she was still young.
When the atomic
bomb exploded over Hiroshima Kazu was eighteen years old. The family
lived a little over a mile away from the hypocenter. She suffered
permanent injuries when pieces of wood flew into and stuck in leg.
Twelve years after the bombing Kazu traveled to the United States and married a second-generation
Japanese-American. She lived the last 50 years of her life mostly in Los Angeles.
She had to travel to back to Hiroshima whenever her health worsened
because she was denied medical coverage in the United States until she
qualified for public health insurance at the age of 65.
..March 2019.. ..Nagasaki..
The Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims will
be permanently exhibiting 15 portraits that I took of Nagasaki atomic
bomb survivors.
These are part of the From Above project which features portraits of atomic bomb survivors and WWII firebombing survivors.
I’m very proud these portraits will be displayed permanently at Nagasaki Peace Memorial Hall for all the visitors to see. The Peace Memorial Hall is attached to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum.
